Welcome to the Summer Lovin’ Giveaway Hop hosted by Lindsey Blogs and Viva Veltoro. A group of great bloggers have come together to bring you great prizes for this sunny time of year. Be sure to hop around to them all at the bottom of the post to increase your chances of winning a Summer Lovin’ prize AND don’t forget the amazing Grand Prize on the host blogs too!

I’ve got a great giveaway for those of you who love to go on road trips during the Summer. Family road trips are a great way to get out of the house without spending a lot of money. With that said, it can get a bit boring if you don’t have great activities on hand. Whether it’s a game or a good collection of music, your family will love these activities for family road trips.

1. Playing Games

Playing games in the car is my family’s favorite way to bust the boredom and monotony of sitting in a car too long. Games bring people together and make the time go by faster and I’ve just discovered Personalogy which was one of Amazon’s Top 100 Bestseller Card Games of 2015.

It’s the perfect road trip game because it doesn’t have a lot of rules, doesn’t have a lot of pieces, doesn’t take up much room, but it gets your family talking! Personalogy brings families together through more meaningful and amusing conversation. The game actually encourages families to share stories and interactive component of describing “why” is what generates surprises and laugh out-loud moments to create even more road trip memories!
Of course, Personalogy isn’t only for road trips. The content is created to bring friends and family together, to keep the fun going once you make it to your destination as well, perfect as a dinner table conversation connector, fun for game night, and even makes a great gift.

Endorsed by AA for road trips, the Personalogy Family Fun game is the laugh out-loud discovery game for the whole family and is available on Amazon.com for $20.00.

2. Listening to Audio Books

More and more children are getting into reading. It’s tempting to pass along a tablet with an ebook, but that doesn’t go a long way for conversation with your family, which we’re trying to achieve, right?! Instead of handing over tablets in the car, why not download a few audio books to enjoy along the way? This will help prevent motion sickness and everyone will get to enjoy the book together. You can also borrow audio books from your local library, but a subscription to an audio book service like Amazon’s Audible gives you a lot of options.

3. Telling Stories

Speaking of great stories, why not create your own. This will definitely start with sharing your own stories while playing Personalogy, but you can also create a story with your family! As you’re driving down the road, have each person add to a story as you go. For example, one person could start with, “A man was walking down the street when….” The next person adds something to the story and everyone takes turns until you get to your destination.

4. Picnicking

If you’re taking a road trip to a national park or another area where restaurants aren’t available, make sure to take a great picnic. If you’re going to be hiking at your destination or doing something else that burns a lot of energy, make sure that your lunch has a good source of protein and complex carbs to keep everyone energized.

5. Jamming

Last, but not least, make your own soundtrack to enjoy as you’re going down the road. You could include some of everyone’s favorite songs. It’s easy to build a playlist with many of today’s music apps. Another fun idea is to make a playlist that fits your road trip. For example, if you’re driving to the beach, create a playlist that’s loaded with beach music.

Road trips are fun for families with kids of all ages. Whether you have little ones or teenagers, your family will love these activities.

Let’s celebrate Summer Lovin’ Road Trips with a giveaway! One lucky reader is going to win the Personalogy Family Fun Game and a $15 Amazon Gift Card!

This giveaway will end on June 27th. It is open to US residents, 18+ only.
Please use the Giveaway Tools widget below to enter.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gro-ables Project for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you think you don’t have enough space to garden? You’d be quite surprised. Even those living in an apartment with a tiny patch of grass to call their own can grow a good amount of vegetables for their family. Whether you rethink how you grow or really consider the needs of your family, the following are excellent tips for gardening in a small space with kids.

Starting a garden with your children is also the perfect way to get over the Winter blues. I can’t tell you how much happier my whole family is when we can get outside! Gardening in small spaces even gives us a chance to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and warmth that our vegetables and fruits do too!

1. Consider Your Family’s Needs When you don’t have a lot of room to work with, you want to stick with fruits and vegetables your family will actually eat. This is also super important when you’re getting your kids involved as they’ll be more excited to help if you’re planting foods they like. Now’s not the time to be adventurous. Stick with produce that can be used in a variety of dishes. For example, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and lettuces can be used in so many different dishes. It’s important to opt for the fruits and vegetables your family eats most often and will grow well in your region. Of course, if you have a little extra space, let your child pick a seed type or two so they feel more involved!

2. Use Raised Garden Beds and Tiered Planters Is your backyard nothing but patio? No problem! A raised garden bed or tiered planter will allow you to make use of the area. Raised garden beds can be purchased rather inexpensively and with a bit of gardening plastic and good quality potting mix you can turn any area into a garden. You can even DIY your own if you like to build. Tiered planters allow you to make the most of a sunny corner of the yard and allow you to grow a variety of tasty produce in a very small area.

One of my favorite ways to grow spinach and different types of lettuce are in flower pots on the patio. Not only do they take up a small amount of space, but they’re kept close making it easier to harvest your lettuce for salads regularly.

3. Choose Plants That Create Quantity in a Small Space If you don’t have a lot of room to work with you want to make sure you’re choosing produce that has a high-yield. Examples include lettuce, carrots, onions, and vertically growing plants such as peppers and tomatoes. The more you can get from a plant, the better. In some cases, like with tomatoes, you may grow so many that you need to can the produce for later use.

One of my favorite ways to grow plants in our garden is by using Miracle-Gro Gro-ables. Gro-ables contain a seed placed at exactly the right depth inside a biodegradable seed pod, that provides just the right growing environment for your seed, and eventually your herb or vegetable plant to thrive! One of my biggest issues with planting seeds is always the depth and how many seeds go where… that’s why I love the concept of Gro-ables! They take the guesswork out of gardening and make gardening in small spaces with kids even easier.

Growing with Miracle-Gro Gro-ables is so incredibly simple too! Everything you need to grow a fruit, herb, or vegetable can be found in this seed pod. All you need to do is add the pod to the container of your choice, water regularly and watch as the seeds grow into a beautiful, delicious vegetable or fruit!

4. Grow Up with Vertical Gardening Vertical garden is a genius idea for those that have zero space to work with. You can easily convert a wooden pallet or hanging shoe organizer into a planter for herbs and smaller plants. Depending on how creative you are, you can also create small garden beds on a stand so that you can grow larger plants. You can even use hanging baskets to grown tomatoes and strawberries.

5. Take the Garden Indoors Last, but not least, put your windows to good use. You can grow a wonderful herb garden in your kitchen window. Everything from chives to dill to parsley can be grown in a small window garden. You’ll have an abundance of herbs to add wonderful flavor to your meals and you’ll save a fortune over buying fresh herbs at the grocery store.

This year, my daughter and I planted herbs from our Gro-ables right into mason jars. Not only will they be right in the kitchen at an arm’s length for when I need a sprig of Parsely or Basil, but they’ll be beautiful blooming in our kitchen window! If you’re looking for even more garden projects, be sure to visit the Gro-ables Project.

Don’t let your small space limit you. There are so many great ways to grow the fruits and vegetables your family needs in a small space. If you really want to garden, think outside the box and don’t be afraid to give up a little patio and yard space for something much, much better than grass! By involving your children in your gardening efforts, you’ll be instilling in them a love for growing their own food and encouraging them to try new foods.

What are your questions or tips for gardening in small spaces with kids?

I received a copy of this DVD for review purposes. All thoughts are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

I’m a huge The Lion King fan. In fact, if you ask me what my favorite Disney movie is, it ranks right up there in one of the top spots. Because of that reason, my girls have always been fans of the movie too, which was why we were all excited when we started seeing promos for The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar on Disney Junior. We had no idea what to expect – would it be a remake of The Lion King, would it live up to one of the best Disney movies of all time?

It did and continues to as The Lion Guard is on constant play here in our house. The feature film runs for 44 minutes and shares Simba’s son Kion and his adventures to become the leader of the new Lion Guard. While this feature is wonderful on it’s own, you can also catch new episodes of The Lion Guard on Disney Junior on Fridays. The girls have me DVR them while they’re at school!

The reason that we choose The Lion Guard for family movie night is because it’s perfect for the whole family. I think I enjoy it as much as my girls do – from the fun songs [that remind me of the first movie] to the cute one-liners, it’s an easy choice for our family nights.

Disney’s epic adventure The Lion King continues with Simba and Nala’s second-born cub, Kion, and his Lion Guard team as they embark on adventures together throughout the Pride Lands! Follow him as he brings together a group of unlikely heroes: Bunga the honey badger, Fuli the cheetah, Beshte the hippo and Ono the egret. Join this heroic band as they use their unique abilities to defend the Pride Lands from predators and maintain the Circle of Life. As King Mufasa said,” Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.”

As a fun added bonus, your child will receive a Zipper Pull for their Backpack featuring a talking Kion, right inside the DVD.

This new movie is packed with laughs, music, beloved characters and most of all heart. The Lion Guard: Return Of The Roar is a must for any Disney collection and you can bring it to your home any time as it’s on store shelves and Amazon.com now!

If your kids love The Lion Guard, then they’ll love these Activity and Coloring Sheets. Be sure to print them so your kids can enjoy!

This post was sponsored by Rubbermaid through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about LunchBlox, all opinions are my own.

This Fall I will have a Kindergartener! Someone pinch me or slap me or do something because I feel like when the day comes, I’m going to be in complete shock and then fall to my knees and ugly cry when she walks through the threshold of “big school”. It just seems like yesterday when I sat in the rocking chair begging her to sleep in her crib more than 2 hours.

But alas, the time has come and we’re already getting prepared for the Fall by talking about the big changes that will be coming. One area that she’s very excited about is lunch time at school. The preschool that she attended this year was only 3 hours per day so no lunch or snacks were required. She’s missed the days of packed lunches and bento boxes, so she’s made it clear that she wants to take her lunch to Kindergarten.

I’m excited to share the perfect lunch kit for kids’ lunch boxes! The Rubbermiad Lunch Blox system is what my daughter will be carrying this Fall in her lunch box – the size is ideal for kids. I used to try to pack her lunches with regular storage wear and just found them too big and heavy – not a problem at all with this system.

The Lunch Blox set also has a built in freeze-able blue ice tray that snaps right on the bottom of the larger pink blox. Even when it’s frozen, it is light so it doesn’t weigh her lunch box down.

To get her in the mood [and to add even more to her excitement], I’ve been creating her some fun lunches during the week. This past week I put a twist on her favorite lunch food – peanut butter and jelly – and turned it into sushi! She loves getting her own chopsticks when we go eat sushi but she hasn’t quite mastered the taste of real sushi yet, so I make fun alternatives like this toddler-friendly Peanut Butter & Jelly Sushi!

It really couldn’t be easier to make. You simply layer a tortilla with Peanut Butter and Jelly, roll it up, and slice! Paired with sides of fish shaped cheese, Trader Joe’s Apple Sticks, Inner Peas, cherry tomatoes, and fresh fruit – it makes for a super simple, fresh, and nutritious lunch for kiddos!

If you’re looking for other lunch ideas, be sure to follow my Pinterest board for Kids’ Snacks and Lunches.

This post about capturing baby videos has been brought to you by Blinkbuggy. All opinions are my own.

How many of you have full baby books of your first child? I do. It’s full of pictures, quick jots of milestones, and even a pretty extensive record of my first pregnancy. Second child? Hey, there’s a picture of her from the Hospital!

Let’s face it – baby books are hard to keep up with, especially when you have more than 1 child come along. Blinkbuggy knows this and they also know how our lives revolve around technology so they’ve created an app that is truly reinventing the baby book for today’s parents!

There’s not many times that my phone isn’t close by, which is why apps like Blinkbuggy are my favorite way to record memories. The best part is there’s not just 1 type of memory that I can record – Blinkbuggy allows you to take a photo right through the app, upload a photo, download a photo from social media [Facebook and instagram integrated] right into your Blinkbuggy account, and even recording a note or quote.

I can’t tell you the countless times that one of my girls say something so cute and hilarious that I think “I have to write that down“. Well, it’s usually when I can’t write it down – in the car, away from home, or just simply washing dishes and I forget by the time I’m finished. In the Blinkbuggy app, you can also record quotes! I love this feature because I know the girls will be growing up so fast and the cute “sayings” they have now will just be a memory soon.

We recently visited the Fernbank Museum of Natural History while on a trip to Atlanta, Georgia and I decided to take the opportunity to save the photos in the Blinkbuggy app. I was also pleasantly surprised to be able to share my pictures a variety of ways from right within the app… via Twitter, Facebook, Email, and even turn your photo in a physical postcard if you have a Sincerely account.

I’ve been using Blinkbuggy to preserve the girls’ artwork too. They both LOVE to draw and create, but it’s just no feasible to keep every little thing they make. So I’m snapping pictures and easily filing them with the hashtag “#Art” so I can easily look them up today, next week, and even 3 years from now!

But perhaps one of the greatest uses of this app is the video portion that hasn’t been released yet. That’s right, Blinkbuggy is bringing video, but in a way that you might not even imagine and Blogging Mamas readers are one of the first to be offered Special Red Carpet Early Access to this revolutionary app!

Have you seen these super popular time lapse videos of parent’s baby videos of their children over years? Honestly, they get me choked up and their baby videos of total strangers, but it just makes me think how fast my girls are really growing up. This is where Blinkbuggy’s new feature comes in.

Blinkbuggy will send you a nice reminder once a week to take and upload a video (that’s all you have to do!).

Blinkbuggy grabs the first 3 seconds of each video and strings those together week over week to automatically create your time lapse!

It’s the kind of thing we would all love to do for our kids, but it’s hard to do on your own. That’s why Blinkbuggy created this!

I would love to have started this when my girls were little, but guess what… regardless of age of child, it’s always a good time to start! When they turn 10, I’ll be glad that I was able to capture their growing, maturing, and beautiful memories on video through the Blinkbuggy app.